The Beatles · non-album single B-side (November 1969) · Lennon-McCartney composition
A study in strict D major broken by three chromatic passing chords, B♭+ (♭VI aug), F# major (V/vi), and G#dim7 (leading-tone diminished).
The song is a novelty medley of style parodies. Underneath the style shifts, the harmony stays in D major almost the entire time; the moments that stand out are the chromatic passing chords used as jazz-cocktail color between diatonic destinations.
The home key is D major. Most chords in the song are plain D-major chords: D, G, A, Bm, Em, F#m.
The song is a comedy piece that keeps shifting styles (lounge, ska, tavern song), but the actual harmony stays in D almost the whole time.
Three chromatic chords make brief appearances between the plain D-major sections:
1. B♭+ (B-flat augmented) is a chord not in the key. It appears in the verse as a jazz-cocktail color, borrowed from D minor.
2. F# major is the 3-chord raised from minor to major. It points at the 6-chord (Bm) from a fifth above, a secondary dominant called V of vi.
3. G#dim7 (G-sharp diminished seventh) is a leading-tone diminished chord, a half-step below the tonic A, used to slide chromatically into resolution at the end.
To see the exact chords and key, open Pollack or Isophonics.
The tonic is D and it never changes. All six diatonic triads and sevenths of D major (D, Em, F#m, G, A, Bm) appear regularly; three chromatic chords appear as brief non-diatonic touches between them.
No modulation, no key change, no modal borrowing beyond the three specific chromatic-passing chords listed below.
The chorus loops D (1), F#m (3m), G (4), A7 (5(7)). All four chords are diatonic to D major, so the chorus has no chromatic content at all.
The 3m as the second chord (F#m) is the mediant, a common jazz-inflected pop substitute for the 1 chord (both share two notes, F# and A). Its use turns a plain 1-4-5 pop progression into a slightly more sophisticated four-chord loop.
The verse runs G (4), then B♭+ (a B♭ augmented triad, B♭-D-F#), then Bm7 (6m7), then E7 (V/V). B♭+ is not diatonic to D major; it is the ♭VI (borrowed from D minor) raised to an augmented triad.
The augmented triad shares two notes with the following Bm (B♭ raised to B natural via chromatic step, D shared, F# shared). This is a Broadway-jazz voice-leading move that colors the harmonic space between two diatonic chords, a lounge-piano flourish inside a plain progression.
Multiple sections use F# major (not F#m, the diatonic 3-chord). F# major is the mediant raised from minor to major, giving it a raised third (A#) which is the leading tone of B.
That raised third is what turns F# from a plain 3m chord into a secondary dominant, V of vi, pulling to Bm from a fifth above. The move (F# → Bm) is a classic 19th-century voice-leading device baked into a rock song.
The final “weird section” closes with D (1) → G (4) → A7 (5(7)) → G#dim7 → D6 (1 with added 6). G#dim7 is not diatonic to D major.
G#dim7 is the leading-tone diminished chord: G# is a half-step below A (the fifth of D major) and functions here as a chromatic voice-leading pivot into the final D6, giving the closing move a Vaudeville-cabaret slide.
| Degree | Chord | Nashville | Roman |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D (D6) | 1 (1(6)) | I |
| 2 | Em (E7 as V/V) | 2m (2(7)) | ii (V/V) |
| 3 | F#m (F# as V/vi) | 3m (3, V/vi) | iii (V/vi) |
| 4 | G | 4 | IV |
| 5 | A (A7) | 5 (5(7)) | V (V7) |
| 6 | Bm | 6m | vi |
| ♭6 | B♭+ | b6+ | ♭VI+ (chromatic pass) |
| #5 | G#dim7 | #5°7 | leading-tone dim (chromatic pass) |
Chords sourced from a public transcription, in D major.
Reading the numbers: each is a scale degree in D. Plain = major, m = minor, m7 = minor seventh, (7) = dominant seventh, (6) = major sixth-chord, + = augmented triad, °7 = diminished seventh. The three chromatic passing chords are B♭+ (♭VI+), F# (V/vi), and G#dim7 (leading-tone diminished of A).
The chromatic passing chords and the colored tonic (low E to high e; x = mute).
Prose analysis of the D-major frame, the style-parody medley, and the three chromatic passing chords.
Open Pollack mirror →Downloadable chord and key files (non-album singles zip includes this track).
Open Isophonics →Roman-numeral function and melody (partial coverage for novelty tracks).
Open the song page →